Staying Relevant in a Changing Global Economy

By+staff+reporter+ZHOU+LIN

THIS year marks the 35th an- niversary of the inauguration of cooperation between China and the World Bank. From July 15 to 17， 2015， World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim paid a visit to China. During this three-day visit， he met with Premier Li Keqiang and other senior leaders， including Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan of the Peoples Bank of China. President Kim held far-reaching discussions with Premier Li Keqiang on the global economy， development finance， and Chinas health reforms. President Kim and Finance Minister Lou signed an agreement establishing a US $50 million fund to aid poverty reduction. The World Bank President also met with leaders of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat for Establishing the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） to discuss closer collaboration. These initiatives solidify the growing partnership with China， which is already the Banks third-largest shareholder and an important contributor to the International Development Association （IDA）， the institutions fund for the neediest， as well as the Global Infrastructure Facility.

To learn more about previous and potential cooperation between China and the World Bank， China Today interviewed Mr. Bert Hofman， the World Banks new Country Director for China， Mongolia and Korea in the East Asia and Pacific Region， based in Beijing. Mr. Hofman has more than 22 years of experience in the World Bank， and 16 in other spots in the East Asia region. Among his other former posts， Mr. Hofman has served as chief economist for China， as well as for Indonesia， and national economist for Mongolia and Namibia， respectively.

China Today： Some 35 years ago， the Chinese governments launch of the historical initiative of reform and opening coincided with China and the World Bank together turning over a new leaf by building an equitable and cooperative partnership. As the head of the Beijing Office of the World Bank， could you please offer us a brief evaluation of this 35-year cooperation？

Mr. Bert Hofman： I believe the China-World Bank partnership has been among the most effective partnerships that my organization has ever joined in with a member state. This partnership has enabled us to engage with the tre-mendous success in development which is Chinas economic transformation since the late 1970s. I think the key to this success was our support of Chinas pragmatic， learn-by-doing approach to economic reform， even as we provided technical assistance in numerous fields， often through Bank-supported projects. A second element of this success has been its continuous evolution hand-inhand with Chinas progress. As China gained ever more expertise， confidence and access to international capital markets， we saw our financial role shrink， and China now uses the Bank mainly for innovations for development and to address new， emergent issues.endprint

China Today： China is the worlds largest developing country， while the World Bank is the largest multilateral development and assistance organization. The World Banks motto is， famously， “Working for a World Free of Poverty.” What is the great significance of this successful 35-year cooperation in this regard？

Mr. Bert Hofman： Perhaps the greatest significance is Chinas contribution to worldwide poverty alleviation. First， China itself has achieved 35 years of record growth and development through opening-up and reforms that have lifted 600 million people out of poverty. I am proud that the partnership was instrumental in achieving this. Second， as Chinas importance in the world has increased， and its economy has opened up and become more marketbased， the influence that China exerts on other countries has increased as well， through trade， finance and dissemination of ideas. This has been a positive force for other developing countries and the world economy – China has been contributing about one third of world growth in recent years， and its demand for commodities has boosted economies around the globe. Third， we at the World Bank are learning from the way China manages its development challenges， and using that knowledge to enhance the development performance of other countries.

China Today： Have any obstacles or misunderstandings arisen between China and the World Bank throughout all these long years？ How did you surmount these barriers to propel the collaboration？

Mr. Bert Hofman： As in any good partnership， we have experienced a few rough patches， but every time we went through one， both sides remained persuaded of the value of the partnership and this enabled us to eventually overcome it.

China Today： In September 2010， at the symposium of commemoration of the 30th anniversary of cooperation between China and the World Bank， then-Vice Premier Li Keqiang declared that， over the past three decades， the two parties had carried out productive cooperation in an innovative way and reaped mutual benefits. Five years have now passed. With what creative ideas are the two parties attempting to create a new development model？ What are the results？

Mr. Bert Hofman： Cooperation has certainly further intensified since then. First， our knowledge cooperation has strengthened via a new approach towards knowledge， namely joint reports of the World Bank and Chinese organizations， such as the Development Research Center of the State Council. I further believe that China 2030， and Urban China： Toward Efficient， Inclusive， and Sustainable Urbanization are mile-stones for the World Bank and China that have provided some useful ideas for Chinas policy orientation in the 12th Five-year Plan and the forthcoming 13th Five-year Plan. We have also started preparing operations in China using new financing instruments， such as the Program for Results， among others， to tackle issues such as air pollution and health care improvement. Further， China recently granted its first trust fund to the bank with the aim of enhancing knowledge cooperation and project preparation in other countries. Relative to the latter， China is also a founding member of the World Banks Global Infrastructure Facility， which targets increasing the volume of bankable infrastructure projects in the developing world. Thus， in brief， our partnership has deepened and broadened in the past five years.endprint